SRP Finale 2019

Can you believe the summer is over???  I can't!!!!  We had three finale parties, and below are all the fun things that we did!  
Here are our attendance numbers for the week:
Preschool 28 Kids, Elementary 50 Kids, Two's 20 Kids

Preschool Finale Party:

The preschoolers loved all the crafts, except the astronaut.  I believe that the jet packs were the biggest hit of all!  They adored wearing the jet packs, most of them didn't take them off the entire time!

We have started taking games outside, to add more items to our parties.  Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate, so we had to cut down on what we offered to the preschoolers.  I do believe that they still had a lot of fun!

Above is the entrance to our star tunnel.  It took my volunteer (my mom) and I about three hours to do this.  But the kids went bonkers over it!  I am trying to salvage it, so that I can turn it into a Christmas tunnel at December.  Below is a side view of the tunnel, and the lights run above and on the other side of the tunnel too.  The last picture is a view of the top of the tunnel.

Darth Vader Knockdown

Darth Vader Bowling



We served the same food for all three groups, so that really helped in preparing it all.

Star Cupcakes
Credit: http://www.piecesbypolly.com/2012/02/easy-star-cut-out-cupcakes-tutorial.html

Elementary Finale Party:

All of the crafts were very popular with the elementary age kids, except for the constellation weaving.  I honestly need to quit trying weaving crafts with my kids at the library, they just don't like them.  On the other hand, they went crazy over the shaving cream planets!  I highly recommend you do this, we are already planning on using them again, just doing something besides a planet.  They were super simple, ours just took a bit longer to dry.


Alien Torn Paper Craft
Credit: Glued To My Crafts

Alien in Spaceship
Credit: Pink and Green Mama


Constellation Weaving
Credit: Kids Activities

Shaving Cream Planets
Credit: I Heart Crafty Things

Games...

The best game of all was.....a stomp rocket!  I was a little hesitant to do this, but it was a true blast!  Word of warning, do not use this near trees, because two of our rockets got stuck in a tree!  LOL....thankfully I have two back-up rockets that I can use.  I have attached a video, hopefully it plays.  If you place the rocket on the launcher near the top, it won't go very far.  If you place the rocket near the bottom, it will go extremely far!

We also left the star tunnel out, which is pictured above.  I was afraid that the elementary age might not enjoy it, but they loved it!

This is our giant connect four set, which I am obsessed with!  Isn't it amazing?

My boss made an awesome bubble wand, and we went outside to make giant bubbles!

Star Wars Bingo




Time for Two's Finale Party:

The two's also made a torn paper rocket for another craft.






We also left the star tunnel out, which is pictured above, for the two's.  Thankfully it survived all week, so I'm happy!

Reach for the Stars! (Preschool SRP)

Preschool Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Book: Elephants Cannot Dance!

*This is my favorite book to read for a dancing storytime. Why? Because I read the part of Elephant and I wear my tutu and get to be silly! My volunteer reads Piggie and all the preschoolers follow Piggie's dance moves. Do I do everything right? Of course not! That's the best part! The preschoolers really got involved in this book and followed along so well, the loved it!

Fingerplay: Five Ballet Dancers

Five ballet dancers

Prancing on their toes

They twirl and spin and jump

Then off the stage one goes.

4 ballet dancers…

3 ballet dancers…

2 ballet dancers…

One ballet dancer

Prancing on his/her toes

She twirls and spins and jumps

Then off the stage s/he goes.

No more dancers!  The performance is over.

And what do we do at the end of a performance?

We applaud!  (clap)

Credit: Jen in the Library

Book: Say Zoop!

*I've never used this book in storytime before, but I adore using the other books by this author in storytime. I didn't read aloud every page, but I read the majority of the book. The preschoolers really liked getting to do all the actions along with me. We gave our fingers a real workout!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Little Moon Hiding Game

Action: Scarf Dancing (Silly Dance Contest and Freeze Dance)

Sheep Blast Off! (Preschool SRP)

Preschool Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Book: Cindy Moo

*During this book, I had everyone stand up with me and jump every time Cindy Moo tried to jump over the moon. The preschoolers really impressed me with their knowledge of knowing that the moon was showing up in the puddle because it was the reflection of the moon! This is a wonderful book to use, I can't believe I've never read it before to my storytime crowd!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Hiding Game with Clouds

Little rocket, little rocket playing hide-and-seek?

Are you behind the {blue} planet? Let’s take a peek!

Book: Barnyard Banter

Flannel: Silly Make a Cow

Book: Farm the Farm

Action: Farm Animal Action Cards

Extra Books:

Our craft for today is the cow jumping over the moon!

Time for Two’s Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Fingerplay: If You Want to Hear a Story

Book: I Spy on the Farm

Fingerplay/Flannel: Little Moon Hiding Game

Action: Farm Animal Cards

Book: Barnyard Banter

Fingerplay/Flannel: Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed

Kitten's First Full Moon (Preschool and Two's SRP)

Preschool Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Book: I Spy Pets (With special guest doing ASL.)

*I love how enthusiastic the preschooler get when I read books like this one to them. They absolutely adore guessing books, and this one is just perfect!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Mouse and Cheese Hiding Game

Credit: http://www.feltboardmagic.com/who-has-the-cheese/

Fingerplay: Ten Little Kittens

Ten little kittens standing in a row (Palms facing forward, fingers extended)

They bow their heads to the children so (bend fingers forward and back)

They run to the left, they run to the right (move fingers to alternate sides, wiggling fingers)

The stretch up tall with all their might (stretch hands over head) DO HIGH, LOW, BEHIND, FRONT, FAST, SLOW

Along comes a dog, looking for some fun

(fingers of one hand resting on thumb, move hand towards other hand)

“Meow!” Away those kittens run!

(As you meow, open both hands with fingers extended, “run” hands behind back)  

Credit: Jen in the Library

*I am trying to remind myself to do more fingerplays, to help with fine motor skills. The preschoolers had so much fun with this one! I added more motions to this one, to stretch it out. The best part was when the preschoolers started telling me what they wanted to do! That's when I knew that they were really enjoying it as much as I was.

Book/Flannel: Cat’s Colors

*This is such a gorgeously illustrated book. Cat starts out with just gray in his world. What's a cat to do? Why collect colors! Before I start, I prop up my cat puppet onto my flannelboard. Then, as cat collects each color inside the book, I place a colored dot onto my puppet. The preschoolers loved seeing my cat literally get covered up in spots!

Fingerplay/Flannel: 5 Little Kittens Jumping on the Bed 

Book: Can a Cat Do That? 

*This is the first time I've read this book in storytime, and I'm so thankful that I did! All throughout the story, you ask the same question. Can a cat do that? I love that it's repetitive, because the preschoolers catch on very quickly and end up asking me the question. Not only do we get to see and act like a bunch of different animals, but it helps them learn what a cat can and can't do. A great learning and teaching book.

Extra Books:

Our craft today was a shape cat! Since our theme this summer is space, I wanted to add a moon and start to our craft.

Credit: A Blog from the Pond

Time for Two’s Storytime:

Opening: Big Books

Book: I Spy Pets 

*The two's love books that open up to reveal the big picture of an animal, and this book is perfect for that. I love using puppets, so my puppet friends had to visit us during this book!

Fingerplay/Flannel: Mouse and Cheese Hiding Game

Credit: http://www.feltboardmagic.com/who-has-the-cheese/

Fingerplay: Ten Little Kittens

Ten little kittens standing in a row (Palms facing forward, fingers extended)

They bow their heads to the children so (bend fingers forward and back)

They run to the left, they run to the right (move fingers to alternate sides, wiggling fingers)

The stretch up tall with all their might (stretch hands over head)

Along comes a dog, looking for some fun

(fingers of one hand resting on thumb, move hand towards other hand)

“Meow!” Away those kittens run!

(As you meow, open both hands with fingers extended, “run” hands behind back)  

Credit: Jen in the Library

*I was a little worried that this fingerplay would be a little too much for the two's, but the loved it!  I really think they would have kept on doing it, it I had let them.  

Book: Pet the Pets by Reul

*This book is absolutely amazing! It's such a wonderful, interactive book to use with all ages. You have to do an action, then lift the flap to see the reaction. The two's were amazed to see what happened! There is another book by this author that I'm planning on using at my next storytime.

Fingerplay/Flannel: 5 Little Kittens Jumping on the Bed 

Our craft today was a shape cat! I didn't realize until it was too late that this craft had too many pieces for the two's. But I have to say, the parents took it on and bravely helped out their two's with it!

Credit: A Blog from the Pond